Device for connecting picking-straps to the picking-sticks of looms



(No Model.)

T. H. LOGAN. DEVICE FOR CONNECTING PIOKING STRAPS TO THE PIOKING STICKS 0P LOOMS.

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ili'rnn STATES PATENT @rricn.

THOMAS H. LOGAN, OF LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS.

DEVICE FOR CONNECTING PiCKlNG-STRAPS TO THE PlCKlNG-STICKS OF LOOMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 325,350, dated September 1, 1885.

Application filed January 26, 1895.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS H. LOGAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lowell, in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Devices for Gonnecting Picking-Straps to the Picking-Sticks of Looms, of which the following is a specifieation.

My invention relates to devices for connecting picking-straps to the picking-sticks of looms; and it consists in the hereinafter-described devices and combinations.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an isometric view of my invention attached to a portion of a piokingstick, the loop being swung outward from the stick, Fig. 2, a side elevation of a portion of a picking-stick to which my invention is attached, the loop and block and a part of the picking-stick being in central vertical transverse section, the loop being in the same position with reference to the stick as in Fig. 1; Fig. 3, aside elevation of a part of the picking-stick, showing the block attached thereto and the picking-loop pivoted to said block, the block being partly in section and the loop being in central vertical transverse section, the lower end only of the loop being in contact with the stick; Fig. 4, the sameas Fig. 3, except that in Fig. 4 the straight part of the inner side of the loop is in cont-act with the stick from end to end of said loop; Fig. 5, a front elevation of a part of the frame of a loom and a part of the laybeam and lay-shaft provided with the bedpiecc, the picking-stick, its rocker, the picking-strap provided with a loop, and my invention secured to said picking-stick; Fig. 6, an elevation of the outer side of a part of a picking-stick and the upper part of the block attached thereto, showing the means of adjust ing said block.

The Ira-me A. lay-beam B, provided with the guide-slots b, lay-shaft C, rocker-bed D, rocker E, picking-stick P, picking-strap S, and its loop 5', are all of the usual construction and operation.

The loop 8 of the picking-strap S surrounds the picking-stick, and is commonly held at the desired height by a holding-loop of leather, one end of which is passed up through the I, which runs through said (230 model.)

loop 8, the ends of said holtlingloop being secured to the pickingstiek by a screw driven through said ends and into said stick above the loop 8.

To vary the force of the blow of the picker, which is attached to the upper end of the picking-stick, as is well known, it is necessary to hold the loop .9 at a greater or less height above the rocker E, (which serves as the fulcrnm of said stick,) and the pickingstick (commonly of ash) is provided with several holes, placed one aborethe other at intervals of about half an inch, into one or another of which said screw is driven, according to the height at which it is desired to hold the pickingstrap; but these holes are likely to become worn and allow the screw to become loose after several removals of the same. A finer adjustment than can be obtained by the screw-holes above mentioned is sometimes desirable, and to put the holes nearer together would increase the tendency of the stick to split when struck by the shuttle. The ordinary loop which holds up the picking-strap is sharp cornered, so that it and the pickingstrap loop wear rapidly upon each other. It is desirable, moreover, to have the picking stick yield somewhat when the picker is struck by the shuttle, so that the filling or cop of the shuttle may not be jarred off the shuttlespindle by the suddenness with which the shuttle is brought to a stop. The attempt has been made to remedy these defects by the use of a holding-loop of round spring-wire; but such loops are apt to be soon broken, and they cannot well be made with sufficientelasticity.

Instead of the holding-loops above referred to, I use a stiff metallic loop, F, having a solid shank, f, at its upper end, which shank is placed between ears 1th, cast or otherwise secured on a block, H, (supported on the picking stick, as hereinafter described) and is held between said cars by a horizontal pivot, ears and through a hole, f, in said shank. The pivot I is cylindrieal in cross-section; but the hole or slot in the shank is oblong horizontally, which allows of the shank being moved toward or away from the block H and pickingstiek. The inner side (or side toward the pickingstick) of the shank f is provided with a re cess, f", of suitable size and shape, below the pivot I, and in this recess is placed a spring, K, preferably a spiral spring, which spring is compressed between the bottom of said recess and the block H, and tends to throw the loop proper out from the picking-stick; but the motion of the loop away from the pickingstick, caused by the expansion of said spring, is limited by the upper end of the shank, which is prolonged upward from its pivot I striking against the block H. Just before the picker is struck by the shuttle the pickingstiek is inclined outward as far as it can go without compressing; the spring K, and the blow of the shuttle causes the picking-stick to swing still farther outward, compressing the spring K, and bringing the lower end of the loop F against the outside of the pickingstick, as shown in Fig. 3, and finally bringing the picking stick in contact with the straight inner side of said loop F along the whole length of said loop, as shown in Fig. 4.

Making the slot f oblong horizontally allows of the straight inner edge of the loop F lying against the picking-stick.

The construction above described causes the pickingstick to yield somewhat and causes the shuttle to be stopped gradually and acts as a filling-eheck,that is, it prevents the filling from being knocked off the spindle of the shuttle by the sudden stopping of the shuttle.

The block H is aliltle wider than the thickness of the pickingstick, and has 011 its inner face, on one or both sides, ribs h, which lie along the front and rear faces of the pickingstick, and is'held in contact with said stick by a wood screw, J, which passes into the pickingstick through a horizontal slot, h, through said block. The outer face of the block H is provided with two or more countersunk enlargements, h h (see Figs. 1, 2, and 6,) of sufficient size to receive and fit the head j of the wood screw J, the shank j of which has, just below the head, a diameter equal to the width of the slot it between the enlargements h h. The countersunk enlargcments are intended to be about half as far with ears, a loop having a shank pivoted tosaid ears between the same, and a spring placed between said block and said shank, as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination of the block adapted to be attached to a picking-stick and provided with ears, a loop having a shank pivoted to said ears between the same and provided with a recess and a spiral spring placed within said recess and compressed between the bottom of said recess and said block, as and for the purpose specified.

3. The combination of the block adapted to be attached to a picking-stick and provided with ears, a loop having a shank pivoted to said ears between the same, and a spring placed between said loop and its pivot and compressed between said shank and said block, said shank extending beyond said pivot on the opposite side of saidpivot from said spring to limit the motion of said loop around said pivot, as and for the purpose specified.

4. The combination of the block adapted to be attached to a piekingstick provided with ears having holes, a loop provided with a shank having a pivot-hole oblong horizon tally, a cylindrical pivot passing through the holes in said ears and the pivot-hole in said shank, and a spring placed between said block and said shank, as and for the purpose specified.

THOMAS H. LOGAN.

\Vitnesses:

ALBERT M. llIOORE, KIRKLEY HYDE. 

